Sign of the times: Bank branches shut doors in their thousands December 24, 2022 More than 5,000 bank and building society branches have closed over the past seven years, according to analysis from Which? The consumer group counted 5,162 bank and building society branches which have closed since January 2015. A further 206 branches are set to close by the end of 2023, according to the Which? findings, as [...]
The Christmas Day Quiz: City A.M. tests out your grey matter December 24, 2022 It’s the Christmas Quiz you’ve been waiting for! Each year City A.M. publishes Deloitte’s economics team’s festive brainteasers, produced as part of their regular Monday briefing. Grab a pen – the answers are at the bottom, and come packed with plenty of extra details… 1. The nineteenth century Scottish historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle dubbed [...]
Santa Tracker: How to follow Father Christmas around the globe today December 24, 2022 Father Christmas may be hard to spot coming down the chimney but he’s easier to keep an eye on these days thanks to a US government agency’s Santa Tracker. Each year, NORAD – the North American Aerospace Defence Command – publishes live real time data tracking the world’s most famed gift giver across the planet. [...]
London braced for transport chaos as Christmas Eve train strike begins December 24, 2022 Strike action could bring chaos to millions of people on Christmas Eve, as walkouts hit rail services and Border Force action enters a second day. With one day to go until Christmas, travellers were being issued with warnings of delays, congestion and disruption. Fears of disorder at UK airports and long queues at passport control [...]
US-China tension: Taiwan spending angers Beijing power brokers December 24, 2022 Beijing has condemned an annual US defence spending bill for hyping up the “China threat”, but Taiwan welcomed the legislation, saying it demonstrated US support for the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule. “China deplores and firmly opposes this US move,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online on [...]
Pubs closing down: Crisis for industry as more than one a day shuts doors December 24, 2022 More than 32 pubs disappeared from communities in England and Wales each month in 2022 as rocketing energy bills and staffing pressures forced businesses to shut for the final time. New analysis of official government data by real estate adviser Altus group found the overall number of pubs slid by 386 during the year. The [...]
Twitter, Elon Musk – and what’s next for the bird-owning billionaire December 24, 2022 Elon Musk started the year as just a prominent Twitter user, but he ends it as its beleaguered owner set to step down as chief executive after a chaotic two months in charge. The Tesla and SpaceX owner launched his dramatic takeover bid in April after buying up enough shares to become the site’s biggest [...]
Liz Truss, Bill Hwang and Elon Musk: The 2022 awards you don’t want to win December 18, 2022 We started the year with Boris Johnson in Downing Street and optimism for a Covid-19 rebound. It didn’t quite turn out that way – and here’s our pick of the best of the best (or worst of the worst) of 2022… THE MUM OF THE YEAR AWARD This year hasn’t been smooth sailing for e-commerce retail [...]
City of London to vote on Simpson’s Tavern ‘community value’ designation December 15, 2022 The City of London’s Policy and Resources Committee will decide whether to designate Simpson’s Tavern – the historic City bar and restaurant now threatened with closure – as an asset of community value at a meeting this afternoon. Doing so would mean the site would ensure that the local community would be given the chance [...]
The Christmas Quiz: Twelve questions to test your grey matter December 14, 2022 Roll up, roll up, for the City A.M. quiz in association with Deloitte's economics team. Twelve questions, all (just about) related to business and economics